welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, july 26th, 9:00 a.m. in too. i' catherine kobayashi. the families of the victims of a train crash in china are becoming impatient with the government's lack of explanation about the accident that killed 39 people in the eastern province. the impact caused some carriages to derail and fa o a eved track. hove the state china central television reported mon night that high-speed service has sud tam section where a bullet train rammed into the back of ataed train on saturday. the national broadcasters said thgornntasetp papal of 20 experts to provide

psychological counseling for injured passengers. but the victims' families say eye hay ouhe government's handling of the accident. people who lost relatives spoke to nhabt w ey feel. >> translator: the government should explain why the incident occurr. spe wt they call state of the art technology. >> translator: we want to know what the government wl d to find the cause of the accident and how they wlo autt. >> the bead families say they're being monitored to prevent them from collectively critizg e veme. more than 20 high-speed trains in china were delayed on monday due to a problem with power transmission. china'sina ns agency said the delays ghrd ngan county. the power lines failed between beinan shanghai. operations reportedly resumed around three hours later, but

mo than 20 trains had been del delayed. the cae t iidt s not been disclosed. xinhua says an investigation is under way. e high-speed service between beijing and shanghai reaching 300 kilometers per hour began erinju 3hut h been plagued with problems. in one case, strong winds caused transmission lines to short circuit. inanother, trains failed to start. the rushed construction of 1300 kiloters of railway and the use of different types of carriages using tecolie ovedyjapan, germany and other countries are behind the problems. obrvers say e delays shortly after the fatal accident on the ghpeed network is likely to fuel concern about the safety of china's bullet trains. china's aggressively expanding its high-speed railways to serve its rapidly growing economy. >> reporter: the high-speed section betweeneingnd shanghai was opened on june 30th, the day before the

communist party's 90th anniversary. the chinese government has pushed the railway project forward very quickly. it sees ghpeed rail as a way to close the economic gap between rich coastal areas and poor inland areas and keep the economy growing. china launched its first high-speed train service in 2007 ready for the beijing olympics thfoowg ar >> translator: it's so comfortable. it doesn't feel like a train. >> reporter: and a line between beijing and tianjin opened in 2008 with trains rni a houp 350 kilometers per hour. there are now 9,600 kilometers of highpe ac that's four times the length of japan's shinkansen lines. the chinese government wants to nearlyouble that to1600

kilometers by 2020. but the push for high-speed rail hasnvve controversy. the railways minister was fired in february this year after being accused of corruptn and having cozy ts th cotrti firms. his critics said he hadn't paid enough attention to safety. >> so how is thehiseubc reacting to saturday's train disaster? nhk world reports from bjing. >> the chinese government -- and safety levers of thehi-sed system. it has contradicted its claims and heightened public distrust. sere criticism has been streaming in on chinese websites denouncing the government for championing its ghpe rl t world's best. it was dismissed as a laughing

stock. the accent is also expected to affect the chinese government's stride to export its rail technology. the chinese government says chinese trains are the world's fastt. chin haslso emphasized the low cost of its rail technology and undercut offerings from japan and other nations. saturday's disaster deals a serious blow to china. countries concerning high-speed rails -- not just performance and cost but also safety. will the chinese government be able to ease public discrust with its investigation? its own people as well as the rest of the world are closely watching. michitika yamaka, beijing. earlier, gene otani spoke to

a railway system expert. >> translator: thank you for joining us today, professor. the chinese railway ministry says that the train control system may have malfunctioned due to a lightning strike. and in the chinese train operating system, how are trains supposed to respond in the event of a lightning strike? >> translator: well, this is basically designed the same all around the world. so they assume that the device will break down when hit by lightning. when the device breaks down, then all of the cars will be stopped. >> translator: but the train that was coming from behind was moving and it crashed into the stalled train which is ahead. how did this happen? >> translator: well, was the train really continuously moving, or did it actually stop once and then start operating again? that part is still unclear.

either way, the signal safety design is supposed to make the train stop. the fact that the train moved despite that indicates that there may have been some kind of human involvement. >> translator: and what can you tell us about the technology levels of the high-speed railway in china? >> at least in terms of research and development and the basic research, i believe that they are very advanced. >> translator: when you take manpower or budget, they have an abundance of both, and they far exceed what japan has. so their basic capacity is very high. but they have no experience in dealing with anomalies. >> translator: so they haven't conducted proper simulations? >> translator: that's correct. so i have urged them to do simulations of abnormal conditions so that they can develop manuals on how to deal with these situations. but ash pirntly that has not been going well.

>> translator: and for the high-speed railway, the carriages were built on european and japanese technology. but the operating system was china's own, it has said. so the system combines technology from various different countries. it's a combination. and does this combination of technologies have anything to do with the accident? >> translator: well, the operating system being a chinese design to be quite precise, there some are chinese elements, but it's based on a european design. the carriages or the railroad track or the operating system. they've definitely combined technologies from many countries. and i know for a fact there are people concerned about that. there are two ways to look at this. that they make a great system by picking great things from all around the world or to say that it will not work because they are trying to marry things that are very different. so there are two different

thoughts. >> translator: the chinese railway authority today resumed operations of the high-speed railway. even if the cause has not been identified yet. what can you tell us about this? >> translator: well, finding out what the cause was is definitely something that they need to do for the future of china's railroad system. and to hastily resume operations in a way that might be negative is a bad choice. the first carriage carries information pertinent to the accident that is stored only the there. and to destroy it and bury it is completely irresponsible. proof that needs to have been preserved should have been preserved. of course, it's best to resume operations as soon as possible.

but that needs to be only after safety is guaranteed when i look at the way that they've done this, the fact that they've buried carriages, that's really wrong and i find that untrustworthy. >> translator: thank you very much, professor. we've been talking to a guest professor. the impact of china's devastating rail accident may prompt some japanese companies to rethink their plans to invest in the country. about 1,000 potential investors from japanese companies attended a financial seminar in tokyo, organized by 11 southern chinese cities on monday. the cities held consultations with participants to try to attract investment, but some attendees voiced concern about china's investment environment, citing saturday's fatal train crash. >> translator: china has rapidly improved its infrastructure, but its operating systems are not good enough. i hope the country improves in this area.

in other news, the man charged with norway's bombing and shooting spree has suggested that two more cells exist and are prepared to launch further attacks. nhk world takachi has this story. >> reporter: anders breivik admitted at the first closed door hearing that he carried out the two attacks on friday. a bombing in central oslo and a shooting spree at a youth camp run by the governing labor party. the court remanded breivik in custody for eight weeks. at a news conference after the hearing, the judge said the suspect aimed to save europe from a muslim takeover and to deal a blow to the governing labor party. norwegians are angered by the remarks of the man charged in the bombing in the shooting spree in their country. >> i think the whole nation and the whole world think he's done something wrong, and nothing can

justify those murdering. >> reporter: an investigation will mainly focus on weather anders breivik acted alone or if he had help. investigators searched the polish company where the suspect may have purchased explosive materials. the horrific attacks occurred suddenly in peaceful norway. people are anxiously hoping that there will be more information as soon as ssible. takashi chinosai, nhk world, oslo. > ai joins us with the latest in business news. lots going on. stalled talks in the u.s. strong yen and record high prices of gold. >> certainly a lot on our plate, catherine. let's start with the stalled talks in the u.s. the u.s. administration of president barack obama and the opposition republican party each proposed a new plan on reducing budget deficits on monday, but they failed to reach an agreement with only one week left until the deadline for raising the federal debt ceiling.

republicans suggested lifting the government bond issuance limit by up to $1 trillion to avoid a default for the time being. provided boith both sides agree on a spending cut of $1.2 trillion. they said they'd consent to an additional hike if democrats agreed to a more comprehensive deficit reduction. meanwhile, the ruling democratic party proposed cutting budget deficits by $2.7 trillion in exchange for raising the debt limit by the same amount. the administration is apparently aiming to avoid another deadlock until the upcoming presidential election ends late next year. the dollar continued to drop overnight due to mounting concerns over the failed agreement on raising the u.s. federal debt limit. in london overnight, investors sold the dollar against the yen at one stage, the yen strengthened to 78.06, the highest level it's been since right after the march 11th disaster in japan. this trend carried over to new

york where the dollar traded at the lower 78 yen level. sources say the market players are expected to keep selling the dollar unless they see some development in negotiations on raising the u.s. debt ceiling. gold futures are climbing in new york. u.s. lawmakers failing to reach an agreement on raising the federal debt ceiling is boosting demand for gold, which is considered a safe haven investment. taking a look, gold futures are currently trading at $1,613.50 an ounce. last week in new york, gold futures exceeded $1600 an ounce for the first time. then in after hours trading on sunday night, the price of gold went as high as $1,624.30 an ounce. a record high. the high level trading continued into monday. now let's check on the markets. the dow ended lower for a second day in a row weighed down by continued concerns about the u.s. debt ceiling issue.

to see how stocks are trading here in japan this tuesday morning, we cross over to rahim mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, how are stock markets reacting this morning? >> a lot of focus there on the ongoing negotiations to resolve the u.s. debt ceiling. and that's pretty much overshadowing most of the markets here as markets await for the prospect of a default, if president obama's administration and the opposing republicans cannot come to an agreement and a lot of focus is also going to be on president obama addressing the nation within the next hour. so markets focusing on that. but having a look at the opening levels, actually not such a bad start. both the nikkei and the topix just in the positive. not a major move, but in the positive nevertheless. now if the u.s. debt issue was not enough, we'd also heard from moody's investor services that it has downgraded greek debt by three notches. so that again puts eurozone debt

back into the focus. and that's just after the bailout and the plans to help greece which came through just last week. so that's coming back into focus again on top of the u.s. debt ceiling issues. so how is all of this playing into the currency markets we ask ourselves? well, again, the yen seems to be on a stronger footing against both the dollar and the euro. currently still around the 78 yen levels. and that's not really helping key exporters, most of which have assumed a dollar/yen rate of about 80 or above. not at the current levels of 78. and this also comes in the week when a lot of japanese blue chip companies are announcing their earnings. and analysts suggesting that many of them may have to slash their yen forecasts for this fiscal year if issues in the u.s. and eurozone keep pushing investors to switch back into yen. canon in fact, announced results after the bell yesterday. despite saying that net profits

dropped by about 20%, it upped its forecast for the fiscal year, and that made numerous securities actually raise canon's target price. canon also said that it assumes an average for the dollar/yen around 80 and around 115 for the euro. still, much weaker than the levels that we're seeing right now. more earnings to come this week. for now, the nikkei and top nix the positive. back to you. >> thanks very much, ramin. that was ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. that's going to do it for now in business. next we go to our bureau in bangkok. here's the latest on what's going on in the region. >> aung san suu kyi has met a senior government official for the first time since the new administration's inauguration in march. myanmar's pro-democracy leader have asked the government to keep dialogue channels with the opposition open. aung san suu kyi met labor and social welfare minister at a

government guest house in myanmar's largest city on monday afternoon. he is tasked by the government with facilitating contacts with the democracy leader. both sides have described the dialogue as positive. aung san suu kyi has been told to refrain from political activities by the government. the government was transformed into a civilian administration in march for the first time in 23 years. that followed a general election from which aung san suu kyi was effectively banned. this month the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton called on myanmar to change that stance. the government ark pirntly hopes to show the world with this new meeting that it is a genuine civilian administration. turning to the philippines,

president aquino says he will boost the country's military presence to protect its territory amidst a deepening rift with beijing in the south china sea. during his state of the nation address, a kwu ino said his government will protect philippine sovereignty in the south china sea. he also announced a plan to upgrade the country's armed forces, including the acquisition of new navy ships and helicopters. aquino said that ma nina does not wish to raise tensions with any government but appealed to the world to understand its new stance. asia has long struggled with a problem of illegal refugees struggling to escape poverty and war. australia has recently been troubled by growing numbers of illegal asian refugees arriving in boats. but on monday, it agreed a new deal with the malaysian government to swap approved

refugees for illegal imgrants. nhk world reports from kuala lumpur. >> reporter: the long talk between the two countries on the controversial plan to swap people has come to the conclusion here in kuala lumpur. the deal means that australia will send 800 asylum seekers to malaysia in exchange for 4,000 registered refugees. at least 6,500 people illegally entered australia last year alone. the immigrants sometimes endanger their own lives. on december 2010, a boat packed with asylum seekers crashed. australia's government wants to send a strong message to such people, by sending illegal refugees back to malaysia. >> this is an agreement which sends a very clear signal that malaysia and australia are serious about stopping people

smuggling. >> reporter: malaysia has more than 90,000 refugees. that's a major financial burden on the country. australia pays for transport and welfare, making it a good deal for malaysian government. but the deal has been severely criticized by human rights organizations. one reason is that malaysia has never ratified with united nations convention on refugees. >> i can give you an assurance on behalf of the malaysian government that all will be treated with dignity. -- sri lank and other countries. activists are demanding australia and malaysia act responsibly and prevent their deal from leading to civil rights violations.

chikashi, kuala lumpur. before we wrap up this bulletin, we look at an attempt by singapore to enter the record books. the city state has recys is the longest table in the world. the fully assembled table, about 160 meters long was put on display saturday in the middle of a road in the ltle india area of singapore. singapore hopes that the guinness world records will endorse the bid. the organizers put on the event as part of the city's food festival managing to sell 550 seats to hungry customers. >> i always want to come down here. it's fantastic. i think they are doing a really, really fun thing. and indian food is going to be good. so this is nice. >> the organizers planned the table at 120 meters but had to lengthen it as demand rose.

try fitting that table into your dining room. but way to go, singapore. and that wraps up our bulletin. hello there. welcome to your weather update. we're looking at changeable weather across japan today. lots of thunderstorms bubbling up in the afternoon. especially along the mountains. do watch out for those strong thunderstorms, as well as gusty conditions. back behind this, this low pressure system continues to move slowly across northeastern china. we are hearing reports of heavy downpours in the area. it looks like that rain will clear out of beijing, but moves into the more northeastern corner of china. also the western sections of the korean peninsula. watch out for heavy showers as well as strong thunderstorms. now down towards the south in and around chongqing, heavy rain

to develop here as well. the southern sections of china does stay dry but much of indochina peninsula deal with the southwest monsoon, particularly for thailand. we have reports of heavy downpours here. for the philippines, too, lots of showers developing. we have a tropical depression just to the east of versailless. it's showing signs of intensifying as it makes its way across luzon over the next day or so. bringing additional heavy rain of more than 100 millimeters in the next 24 hours. so flooding is going to be a big concern here, as well as strong winds and high waves along the east coast. in terms of temperatures, it stays hot in southern china. 38 degrees in nanchang today. and shanghai reaches 37 degrees as well. it's very, very hot indeed. now for the americas, looking very unsettled down in the southeastern corner here. watch out for those drenching thunderstorms, picking up all that energy from the gulf of

mexico. a couple of severe areas to watch out for across the north as well. for the northeastern corner of the u.s. awell as eastern canada. and then back behind the tail end of this frontal system, this w pressure system forming over montana. so areas nearby for western canada, the plains states as well as the northern plains, i should say. look out for those strong thunderstorms. looking quite showery over down in the southwestern corner as well as western mexico here. temperatures stay very, very hot in the central and the southern portions of the u.s. 40 degrees in oklahoma city. 34 in denver and 31 degrees in chicago. now we take a look at europe. it remains very thundery and wet out towards the east. especially for the balkans, deal with that widespread rain and strong thunderstorms. this system is going to be making its way in a northeasterly direction. so much of eastern europe looking quite unsettled out here. that rain pulls away from italy,

but a new rain band coming in from the west is going to be reaching the alpine region next. turning things unsettled once again. nothing too severe is expected here. across the british isles, a little cloudy out here, but spells of sunshine expected. over towards the north, a little bit showery for norway. but nothing too severe. berlin, 22 degrees. a little bit warmer than yesterday. london 21 with sunshine. it stays very, very hot down in the southwestern corner. 33 degrees in madrid. all right. here is your extended forecast now.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.